Former NFL Player, TJ Duckett, Flooding the Community
Lansing, MI – Todd "TJ" Duckett spent the summer helping others. He spent time in Africa, including time in Arusha, Tanzania, at the Make a Difference Foundation Pre-school that he supports. He attended "Lunch with A Purpose" each Thursday that he was available and in the Lansing area and helped out local charities. Duckett was a keynote speaker at the "Personal Branding for Athletes: Transitioning from the NFL to Your Next Career" program, hosted by Louisiana State University Executive Education in the E.J. Ourso College of Business. He also hosted the "Art & Athletes for Action Event" to benefit the Drop Dead Gorgeous Charity Foundation. But now, TJ Duckett is launching a new organization, New World Flood, in hopes of encouraging students to give back to their communities.
"I enjoy spending time in the community doing what I can to help empower the people and improve their environment," Duckett stated.
Duckett joined by co-founder, Heather Sheets, will be traveling to schools to spread the word about community service and the impact of generous actions. There is no charge to the school for these speaking engagements.
"I arranged to have TJ speak at my alma mater, Olivet High School, last spring," Sheets said, "After spending the day there, it was so positive. We were able to hear some of the amazing activities that students were doing when challenged to give back to their school and to the community there. The worst part of the day was when it was time to go. The light bulb went off, we need to keep these conversations going with students as they are the most powerful resource we have when it comes to creative solutions."
The duo has worked to launch a website to continue the conversations with students, teachers, parents, and community members. "Our hope is that we can use technology to not only stay in touch with those that we meet, but also to increase positive communication in people’s lives and share ideas across school districts, state lines, and eventually worldwide," Sheets added.
New World Flood will kick off as exhibitors on September 21-22 at the Michigan Association of School Administrators Fall Conference in hopes of expanding into more schools at a rapid pace.
Duckett added, "I let the kids lead the conversations by asking questions of me and by asking them questions. This means that there is not a canned speech and we get to have real conversations. The feedback so far has been great, so we are just looking to build on that."